Laila Ali
|hometown = Miami Beach, Florida |knownfor = Professional boxer |season = Dancing with the Stars 4 |partner = Maksim Chmerkovskiy |place = 3rd |highestscore = 30 (Samba, Quickstep, Cha-cha-cha, & Mambo) |lowestscore = 21 (Tango & Paso doble) |averagescore = 27.0 }} Laila Amaria Ali is a celebrity from season 4 of Dancing with the Stars. Early Life Laila Amaria Ali was born 30 December 1977 in Miami Beach, Florida, the daughter of boxer Muhammad Ali and his third wife, Veronica Porché Ali. Ali was a manicurist at age sixteen. She graduated from California's Santa Monica College with a business degree. She owned her own nail salon before she began boxing. Boxing Career Ali began boxing when she was eighteen years old, after having first noticed women's boxing when watching a Christy Martin fight. She first publicized her decision to become a professional boxer in a Good Morning America interview with Diane Sawyer. When she first told her father, Muhammad Ali, that she was planning to box professionally, he was unhappy about her entering such a dangerous profession. In her first match, 8 October 1999, the 5'10", 166-pound, 21-year-old Ali boxed April Fowler of Michigan City, Indiana. They fought at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino on the Oneida Indian Nation in Verona, New York. Although this was Ali's first match, many journalists and fans attended, largely because she was Muhammad Ali's daughter. Attention to Ali's ring debut was further boosted because it occurred on the eve of what was supposed to be the first male-female professional bout ever to be sanctioned by a US state boxing commission ... later ruled an exhibition. As WomenBoxing.com explains: "The near-alignment of the two events focused more attention on female professional boxing than there had been since Christy Martin's 1996 pay-per-view fight with Deirdre Gogarty." Ali knocked out April Fowler – described by WomenBoxing.com as an "out-of-shape novice" – in the first round. Ali also won her second match by a TKO with only three seconds left on the clock. In that match her opponent was 5'4" Shadina Pennybaker, from Pittsburgh, who was making a pro debut after earning a 2–1 record as an amateur. They fought at the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort in Chester, West Virginia. Ali captured eight wins in a row and many boxing fans expressed a desire to see her square off in a boxing ring with George Foreman's daughter, Freeda Foreman or Joe Frazier's daughter, Jackie Frazier-Lyde. On the evening of June 8, 2001, Ali and Frazier finally met. The fight was nicknamed Ali/Frazier IV in allusion to their fathers' famous fight trilogy. Ali won by a majority judges' decision in eight rounds. This match by Ali and Frazier was the first main-event pay-per-view match between two women. After a year's hiatus, on 7 June 2002, Ali beat Shirvelle Williams in a six-round decision. She won the IBA title with a second-round knockout of Suzette Taylor on 17 August 2002, in Las Vegas. On 8 November, she retained that title and unified the crown by adding the WIBA and IWBF belts with an eight-round TKO win over her division's other world champion, Valerie Mahfood, in Las Vegas. Ali stopped a bloodied Mahfood in eight rounds. On 21 June 2003, Mahfood and Ali fought a rematch, this time in Los Angeles. Once again bloodied by Ali, Mahfood lost by TKO in six rounds while trying to recover her world title. Nevertheless, for the first time in Ali's boxing career, she suffered a bad cut on her right eyelid and a bloodied nose, inflicted by Mahfood, something no other female boxer has done to Ali to this day. On 23 August 2003, Ali fought her original inspiration, Christy Martin, beating Martin by a knockout in four rounds. On 17 July 2004, Ali retained her world title, knocking out Nikki Eplion in four rounds. On 30 July 2004, she stopped Monica Nunez in nine rounds, in her father's native city of Louisville, Kentucky. This fight was part of the undercard for the fight in which Mike Tyson was surprisingly knocked out by fringe contender Danny Williams. On 24 September 2004, Ali added the IWBF Light Heavyweight title to her resume by beating Gwendolyn O'Neil (whom she had earlier canceled a fight against) by a knockout in three rounds, at Atlanta, Georgia. On 1 February 2005, in Atlanta, Ali scored a commanding and decisive eighth-round technical knockout over Cassandra Geiggar in a ten-round fight. On 11 June 2005, on the undercard to the Tyson-Kevin McBride fight, Ali defeated Erin Toughill in round three to remain undefeated and won the World Boxing Council title in addition to defending her WIBA crown. She was the second woman to win a WBC title (Jackie Nava was the first). Toughill and Ali disliked each other, and prior to the fight Toughill joked about Ali. Ali promised she would punish Toughill, much like her father did with Ernie Terrell back in 1967. On 17 December 2005, in Berlin, Ali fought and defeated Åsa Sandell by TKO in the fifth round. The decision was heavily disputed. The audience booed Ali during her post-fight interview. While a guest on Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith on 7 June 2006, Ali announced that she would be making a world tour, and said that she was looking forward to fighting Ann Wolfe on October 2006. However, the fight with Wolfe never materialized. Instead, on 11 November 2006, Ali fought and defeated Shelley Burton by TKO in the fourth round. Ali was rescheduled to fight O'Neil in Cape Town, 5 August 2006, but Ali pulled out amid allegations of fraud. The match eventually took place in South Africa 2 February 2007. Ali defeated O'Neil in the first-round by technical knockout. It was Ali's last professional fight. Television In early 2002, Ali appeared in a boxing role for the music video "Deny" by Canadian hard rock band Default. The video gained airplay on music channels including MTV2 and MMUSA. In 2004, Ali appeared on the George Lopez show, where she owned a gym, as well as on Real Husbands of Hollywood. In mid-2007, Ali was a participant in season four of the American version of the television show Dancing with the Stars; she had no previous dancing experience. She and her professional dancing partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, were widely praised by the judges, receiving the first "10" from judge Len Goodman for their rumba. They came in third place in the competition, losing to Apolo Anton Ohno (with Julianne Hough) and Joey Fatone (with Kym Johnson). Ali hosted the revival of American Gladiators alongside Hulk Hogan. The show premiered in January 2008. Ali and the cast of American Gladiators appeared on the NBC show Celebrity Family Feud in an episode that aired 8 July 2008. Ali joined the CBS team as a contributing correspondent on The Early Show with her first appearance in early January 2008. She hosted Student Body, a reality show on The N. Ali also appeared in a 2007 episode of Yo Gabba Gabba!, titled "Train", in a brief dance number, and on Love That Girl, episode 3.4, "Fighting Shape". In 2012, Ali was picked to co-host Everyday Health with Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca. The show aired on ABC Saturday mornings and profiled everyday people living with health issues, who aspired to not let their issues keep them from helping others or doing extraordinary things. Also in 2012, Ali appeared in a Kohl's commercial with a tag line, "I box to win; I shop to win." Ali was a contestant on the NBC celebrity reality competition series called Stars Earn Stripes from August 2012 to September 2012. On 4 February 2013, Ali appeared on the NBC reality series, The Biggest Loser in the episode "Lead By Example". In the episode, she boxed alongside Dolvett Quince's team consisting of Jackson Carter, Joe Ostaszewski and Francelina Morillo. In March 2013, Ali started appearing as a co-host on multiple episodes of E! talk show series, Fashion Police, filling in for Giuliana Rancic, who was on maternity leave. In May 2013, Ali once again filled in for Rancic, who had other commitments and was unable attend the show. In May 2014, Ali participated in an episode of Celebrity Wife Swap. She swapped places with singer Angie Stone and tried to instill healthier habits on the family. In April 2013, Ali participated in two episodes of Chopped: All Stars, making it to the final round, competing for a favorite charity. In September 2013, Ali began hosting All In with Laila Ali, a new show in the CBS Saturday morning lineup "CBS Dream Team". The following year, she began hosting Late Night Chef Fight on the cable network FYI. In 2014, she appeared in the film Falcon Rising. She was a participant of The New Celebrity Apprentice (also known as The Apprentice 15 and The Celebrity Apprentice 8) but terminated after 11th task. Personal Life In 2002, Ali wrote (with co-author David Ritz) the book Reach! Finding Strength, Spirit, and Personal Power, meant to motivate and inspire young people. In this book, she confides that she felt isolated at times because of her parents' fame. Ali has also spent some time in jail, and describes her arrests and the physical abuse she experienced in jail. Critics say that Ali's book has a good foundation but she does not give the readers advice; rather she just talks about her own experiences. Ali married Johnny "Yahya" McClain 27 August 2000. She met McClain through her sister Hana at her father's 57th birthday party. McClain became Ali's manager and helped guide her career. In late 2005, Ali and McClain divorced and McClain quit managing Ali. On 23 July 2007, Ali married former NFL player Curtis Conway in Los Angeles. They have two children together: son Curtis Muhammad Conway, Jr. (born 26 August 2008), and daughter Sydney Jurldine Conway (born 4 April 2011). Ali is the stepmother of Conway's three children: twin sons Cameron and Kelton (born 1995) and daughter Leilani (born 1999). Professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan credits Laila Ali with saving his life by telephoning him when he was depressed and suicidal. Although raised as a Muslim, Laila Ali does not follow the Islamic faith. Ali's is the sister-in-law of professional mixed martial artist Kevin Casey, who is married to her sister Hana. Dancing with the Stars 4 Scores Gallery Laila & Maks S4.PNG LailaAli-Promo4.jpg Category:Females Category:Contestants Category:Season 4 contestants Category:Athletes